Building an AMD PC... a few questions

[jefforange89]

1) There are a number of power-efficient CPUs - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103683&cm_re=phenom_ii-_-19-103-683-_-Product might be something to look at, or there's a quad-core one that's otherwise the exact same as this as well. There's also some low-energy Athlon IIs, but I haven't actually seen them for sale anywhere. >_>

You'll need to spend a good amount of money on a video card to get 120 FPS out of games that are both not old, and not L4D... and I don't really know much about 3D gaming, and its impact on framerates, so someone else will have to help you there. However, most games run fine using just a good dual core CPU, since it's pretty well the video card that matters most.

Also, you could try messing with the dark art of undervolting, as a lot of newer AMD CPUs are supposed to do fairly well with that.

2) I would just spend the extra few dollars to get DDR3 memory, especially since AMD revealed that their next-generation of CPUs in 2011 will still use Socket AM3, meaning you'll be able to upgrade then without needing a new motherboard. The price different isn't too much - the cheapest 4 GB DDR2 and DDR3 kits on Newegg are only 2$ apart, for example.

3) AM3 CPUs are backwards-compatible with AM2 and AM2+ motherboards, provided the BIOS supports the CPU. That being said, there usually isn't any difference between an AM2+ or an AM3 motherboard in terms of price, so might as well get the AM3 one.